October 16, 2009

Marines rely on ‘eyes in the sky’

By Raelynn Ricarte
Hood River News

     A group of insurgents buried a cache of weapons in a border area of Iraq without awareness that their activity was being monitored by an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) flying soundlessly overhead.
     After receiving these images, a U.S. Marine Corps officer sent a squad of infantrymen to recover the artillery rounds and other components used to assemble roadside bombs, the leading cause of death for coalition troops.
According to military intelligence reports, the recovered weapons had been intended for a terrorist cell that had infiltrated a remote village.
     For weeks, the Marines had worked to close off the smuggling route and stop violence in the area. Toward that end, they regularly deployed the ScanEagle, a small UAS that was virtually undetectable.
     As a result of the thermal and electro-optic images relayed by the aircraft, the ground unit had avoided hitting one of the IEDs (Improvised Explosive Device) that insurgents routinely embedded along the “rat trail” they patrolled.
     The men — most between the ages of 18 and 22 — had learned via a couple of near-misses to pay close attention to the danger signs transmitted by their “eye in the sky.” They knew that tire tracks and disturbed earth often meant that hostile forces had been at work in the area.

     The hypothetical scenario portrayed above, or something similar, is frequently relayed by military personnel to Steve Nordlund, vice president of business development for Insitu.
     “We hear about these types of situations fairly regularly and there are no stats to show how many lives we might have helped to save,” he said.
Insitu is an independent subsidiary of Boeing based in
     Bingen, Wash. The company produces the ScanEagle for about $135,000 each and contracts with the Department of the Navy, which includes the Marines, for about $300 million each year. The aircraft is also made available on the same “fee for service” basis to the Air Force and to special teams in all branches of the military.
     Marine combat units in Iraq and Afghanistan count on the ScanEagle to relay reconnaissance, surveillance and intelligence data about front-line activities.
     “Unmanned air systems, to include the ScanEagle, give the war fighter unprecedented situational awareness on the battlefield,” said USMC Lt. Col. George Beach, a coordinator for the UAS program.
     “The time between when a sensor such as the ScanEagle ‘sees’ an event and how fast U.S. forces are able to respond has been dramatically reduced.”
     Insitu’s working relationship with the Marines began in 2004 with the invasion of Fallujah, an Iraqi city about 43 miles west of Baghdad that had become an insurgency stronghold.
     The nine-day battle would later be described by top U.S. commanders as the fiercest urban combat the Corps had faced since Vietnam. The ScanEagle was used to keep assault platoons informed about the location of enemy snipers and booby traps.
     “That battle was all about clearing the streets so the people could take part in the first democratic vote in Iraq,” said Nordlund. “The Marines accomplished that because we were there.”
     The Scan Eagle is 4½ feet long with a 10.2-foot wing span and mounted with either an electro-optic or infrared camera in its nose. The UAS can stay in the air for 20 hours on less than two gallons of automobile gasoline. It operates in all weather conditions and is virtually undetectable.
     The aircraft is recovered with a snag line that is suspended from a boom. The handler aims the unmanned vehicle directly at the line and a hook installed in the wingtip is caught by the line as it passes by.
     Nordlund said Insitu sends contractors — many of whom are veterans — into combat zones to operate the ScanEagle, although these individuals stay on secured bases. Beach said the Corps also has intelligence analysts on the ground to disseminate information relayed by the aircraft.
     Nordlund said it is not unusual for ScanEagle to fly over a specified area and pick up unexpected activity in another quadrant as it passes overhead. He said the new information is then relayed to commanders, who make the call about whether the situation warrants further investigation.
     “Our job is about getting info to a decision maker,” he said.
     According to Beach, the ScanEagle’s robotic equipment is “highly reliable” and relatively easy to maintain.
     “The plane is a modular design allowing for pieces and parts to be removed and replaced,” he said.
     Nordlund said the ScanEagle was built to last through 2,000 flight hours but can typically be used for a much longer period of time.
     Beach said the ScanEagle’s ground control station is highly mobile and does not require an airfield. He said the UAS can even be operated from a general purpose tent if necessary to accommodate troop movement.
     “ScanEagle is operated via line of sight to the ground control station,” said Beach. “Any obstruction such as buildings, trees or mountains must be considered in the planning process when determining the optimum operating location.
     “To my knowledge, a ScanEagle has never been shot down. It is a small target, difficult to hear, and impossible to see when airborne.”
     He said, since a UAS is designed to limit the armed forces’ exposure to enemy threats, the decision to recover a downed ScanEagle is based on the potential threat to the Marine platoon.
     “Typically, the Marine Corps does not put friendly forces in danger to recover a ScanEagle,” said Beach.
     Neither he nor Nordlund would comment on what security measures have been taken to prevent hostile forces from obtaining ScanEagle’s technology if a plane crashes.
     “There’s absolutely no special ‘top secret’ material in the aircraft,” said Nordlund.
     “All of the components come right off the store shelf and we have just developed the software to turn them into a flying robot.”
     In addition to providing “convoy overwatch” to protect the troops, Beach said the ScanEagle is used to help artillery units increase their accuracy when firing on targets.
     Although the aircraft is too lightweight to carry ordnance, a UAS helps commanders analyze the situation on the ground before and after a bomb hit.
“The ScanEagle has been an invaluable asset in this fight,” said Beach.
     Nordlund said the ScanEagle has also helped prevent the deaths of Iraq and Afghan civilians during the war on terror. For example, he said the aircraft once spotted school children among key terrorist leaders at a Middle East gathering — and a planned airstrike was called off.
     “The troops are bending over backwards to avoid civilian casualties; even when it puts them at risk,” he said.
     “If there were more ScanEagles out there for every strike, how much more could we dampen collateral damage?”
     Nordlund said the next generation of UAS is the Integrator, which has a 16-foot wingspan for greater air flexibility and more sophisticated camera equipment. He said the aircraft will be sold to the military if Insitu wins its bid for a long-term acquisition contract.
     Insitu also provides a UAS to the Department of Homeland Security for border surveillance and to the Canadian and Australian militaries.